Bolivians are celebrating the launch of the country’s first telecommunications satellite with indigenous rituals dedicated to Pachamama, or Mother Earth.
President Evo Morales was in China for the Friday blast-off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan province, reports South China Monitoring Post.
Hundreds of people gathered in the Bolivian capital of La Paz to watch the take-off on large television screens erected by the government.
The satellite is named after Tupac Katari, an indigenous Aymara hero who led 18th century resistance to Spanish colonisers. It was financed with a credit from the China Development Bank for US$302 million.
Ivan Zambrana is director of the Bolivian Space Agency. He says the satellite should be fully operational by March and help bring down communications costs and improve television and internet services for people living in rural areas.
Greek lawmakers approve property tax law amid protests
The Greek parliament has approved a controversial law on property tax demanded by the austerity-hit country’s international lenders, amid widespread protests against the legislation.
On Saturday, Greek lawmakers passed the bill with a narrow majority of 152 votes in the 300-seat parliament. Critics have described the new law as a final blow to Greece’s shaky economy.
Following the vote, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said Vyron Polydoras, a conservative lawmaker and former minister, has been expelled from the ruling New Democratic Party after he voted against the bill.
The move reduced the already slim majority of Greece’s coalition government to 153 in the parliament.
The new law, which is to take effect on January 1, 2014, will fix a tax on agricultural plots larger than 1,000 square meters (10,764 square feet).
Greece Finance Ministry says the tax is aimed at raising some 2.65 billion euros (USD 3.6 billion dollars) in 2014. However, unions and left-wing parties in the country have criticized what they call an over-taxation of real estate.
Main opposition leader, Alexis Tsipras, lashed out at Athens for carrying out a “heist” against landowners, saying, “You tax every inch of home yard and garden, and then come here and talk of growth.”
On Friday, several hundreds of Greek farmers marched towards the parliament building in Athens, carrying banners that read, “Not one euro for the fields” and “No to the double taxation.”
The protest was held as lawmakers were debating the law, which is required by Greece’s troika of international lenders – the European Union, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Athens has been dependent on bailout funds from international “rescue loans” since May 2010, when it was first granted a 110-billion-euro (USD 145 billion) package and was followed by another 130-billion-euro (USD 170 billion) package in February 2012.
ICRC warns of dire humanitarian situation in Syria
The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned over Syria’s escalating humanitarian crisis, urging both sides involved to allow humanitarian assistance to reach besieged areas.
ICRC Chief Magne Barth said in a statement on Sunday that half a million people have been wounded across Syria, many of whom lack access to basic healthcare and treatment, AFP reported.
He also said that millions of Syrians have also been internally displaced and tens of thousands detained.
“At least half a million people have been wounded across the country and millions remain displaced and tens of thousands detained,” Barth said.
“The wounded are often not cared for properly and the chronically ill often do not receive the treatment they need,” ICRC chief added.
Barth’s remarks come a day after the UN World Food Program (WFP) said that half of Syria’s population of around 23 million is “food insecure” and nearly a third needs urgent assistance.
“Recent assessments show that almost half the population inside Syria is food insecure and close to 6.3 million people need urgent, life-saving, food assistance,” WFP said in a statement on Monday.
The ICRC said a harsh winter that hit the region earlier than expected this year has added to the “misery” of millions of Syrians displaced inside the country and those in refugee camps in neighboring countries.
Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since March 2011. According to reports, Western powers and their regional allies — especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey — are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.
According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and a total of 7.8 million of others displaced due to the violence.
ANKARA: Another 25 police chiefs dismissed amid Turkey’s graft probe
ANKARA
The massive purge at the police department has extended to the lower ranks of the organization as 25 police heads in the Istanbul Police Department were displaced in the early hours of Dec. 22 amid the ongoing corruption investigation.
Twenty-four people have been formally arrested under the corruption investigation, including the sons of two government ministers and the general manager of state-owned Halkbank.
In response, about 70 police officers, including the powerful head of Istanbul’s force, have now been sacked or moved to different posts since the detention of bribery suspects began last week.
Istanbul Police Chief Hüseyin Çapkın Dec. 19 joined a long list of police officials dismissed from their posts, after two of his assistants, as well as four assistant chiefs, including chiefs involved in the execution of the probe targeting high-profile figures, were dismissed from their posts on Dec. 18.
Fourteen heads of police departments were discharged Dec. 20.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused “international groups” and “dark alliances” Dec. 21 of encouraging the graft investigations. Erdoğan has said the crackdown on people behind the corruption investigation would continue.
“Those who want to establish a parallel structure alongside the state, those who have infiltrated into the state institutions … we will come into your lairs and we will lay out these organisations within the state,” he said in a speech in the Black Sea province of Ordu.
December/22/2013
Congressman Costa: Azerbaijan must be held accountable for its actions and brought to justice
December 21, 2013 | 02:23
WASHINGTON, DC. – Members of the US Congress continue to express alarm at Azerbaijan’s most recent military attack across the Armenian border, which have made Armenian soldier Hrant Poghosyan Azerbaijan’s latest casualty, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.
In a statement issued, Congressman Jim Costa noted that he was “appalled to learn of yet another murder of an Armenian soldier in an unprovoked attack by Azerbaijani troops against Armenian forces.
“This tragic bloodshed follows the Azerbaijani government’s heroic treatment of Ramil Safarov – the Azerbaijani military officer who savagely killed an Armenian solider. Azerbaijan, its military, and the perpetrator of this heinous crime must be held accountable for their actions and brought to justice,” Congressman Costa said.
Costa’s comments follow statements issued earlier by Congressmen Adam Schiff and Brad Sherman condemning the attack.
Rep. Schiff echoed those concerns and called attention to Azerbaijan’s ongoing use of violence to resolve the Karabakh conflict. “One need only look at the sick display of adulation that greeted Ramil Safarov — the Azerbaijani military officer who beheaded an Armenian colleague during a NATO Partnership for Peace exercise — to see how the Azeri government has glorified this violence. Rather than prison, Safarov was paraded through the streets and given a new house and a promotion. Baku’s newest murderer will not be brought to justice until the international community insists on an end to these atrocities,” Schiff stated.
“Azerbaijan has yet again shown that it is not serious about establishing peaceful relations with Armenia and Artsakh [i.e., Nagorno-Karabakh]. Despite the request for a ceasefire during the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Azeri forces have killed an Armenian solider, Hrant Poghosyan. The shooting was unprovoked and Armenian forces have respected the request for a ceasefire,” explained Rep. Brad Sherman
As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, Hrant Poghosyan died, on December 15 at around 5pm, at the defensive positions of Movses village nearby the City of Berd in Armenia. Poghosyan was a resident of Berd, he was 26 years old, married, and he had one child.
Journalists banned from entering police stations across Turkey
Journalists will no longer be allowed to enter police departments, a statement released from the Turkish police has said.
“Members of the press will not be allowed to the Police Departments all over Turkey as of Dec. 22, 2013,” a statement read. “Journalists will be invited in the event of a press statement or such development. We ask press members who use the press rooms at the Vatan and Gayrettepe Police Departments [in Istanbul] to return their keys and entrance cards.”
The move came amid a reshuffle in the police organization that saw more than 100 police chiefs being removed from their posts, which followed a gripping graft investigation. Two sons of ministers have been arrested as part of the probe.
December/22/2013
Armenia’s ruling party ruined vote on selling ArmRusgasprom shares
December 20, 2013 | 18:58
YEREVAN. – Armenian parliament failed to vote on the agreement on the sale of the shares of ArmRusgasprom Company of Armenia and the future conditions of operations.
The vote scheduled for 6pm did not take place as many members of the ruling party were absent from the hall. For around ten minutes Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan urged lawmakers to return to the hall and then offered to postpone the vote till 12pm on Saturday.
Earlier ARF Dashnaktustyun, Heritage and ANC said they would vote against the bill, while Prosperous Armenia decided not to participate in the vote.
Turkish PM Erdoğan implies to expel US ambassador (Today Zaman report)
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan address to his supporters in Black Sea province of Samsun. (Photo: İHA)
According to a report appeared on the pro-government Yenişafak daily, the US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone told EU ambassadors in Ankara in a meeting on Dec. 17, the beginning of the graft probe, that the US had asked Turkey to cut Halkbank’s financial ties with Iran.
“We requested end of financial ties of Halkbank with Iran. But they didn’t listen. You are watching collapse of an empire [Turkey],” said Ricciardone, according to the Yenişafak report, regarding the ongoing investigation into alleged bribery and tender rigging.
Speaking at a rally in northern province of Samsun on Saturday, Erdoğan again struck a defiant tone, adamantly rejected any wrongdoing, deeming the corruption case as an international plot to weaken Turkey’s growing economic and diplomatic clout, and topple the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government.
“These recent days, very strangely, ambassadors get involved in some provocative acts. I am calling on them from here, do your job, if you leave your area of duty, this could extend into our government’s area of jurisdiction. We do not have to keep you [Ricciardone] in our country,” Erdogan told supporters in the Black Sea province of Samsun, implying to expel US ambassador.
The US Embassy to Turkey has denied any role in the investigation. “All allegations in news stories are downright lies and slander,” it said in a statement.
The statement said massive corruption probe in Turkey has nothing to do with the United States, denying reports appeared in pro-government dailies. He warned that nobody should put Turkish-US ties at jeopardy with such false claims.
The Embassy also denied existence of such a meeting between Ricciardone and EU ministers in Ankara on Dec. 17.
Erdoğan’s remarks would likely to fuel tension between two allies amid ongoing corruption investigation.
While Erdoğan slammed the US ambassador in an indirect manner, Turkish foreign ministry said that Ankara it regards the statement released by the US Embassy, which denies allegations of issuing remarks on graft probe, as satisfactory.
A number of western diplomats in Ankara who spoke to Today’s Zaman categorically denied claims that such a meeting took place on Dec. 17, rejecting any gathering.
AK Party spokesman Hüseyin Çelik made a similar statement with the Foreign Ministry, saying that “we have to trust on the statement [of the US ambassador].”
Two sons of Turkish ministers and an Iranian-Azerbaijani businessman Reza Zerrab are among 24 suspects arrested as part of an investigation into a bribery and fraud ring that has rocked Turkey since Tuesday.
Son of Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan, Kaan Çağlayan, and son of Interior Minister, Barış Güler, as well as Halkbank General Director Süleyman Aslan and Zerrab are among 16 people arrested early on Friday. Eight people were arrested late on Thursday.
On Thursday, 49 suspects, including Fatih district mayor Mustafa Demir and Güler, were referred to court for arrest.
The suspects are accused of rigging state tenders, accepting and facilitating the payment of bribes for major urbanization projects, obtaining construction permits for protected areas in exchange for money, helping foreigners obtain Turkish citizenship with falsified documentation, involvement in export fraud, forging documents and smuggling gold. There are also claims that the suspects illegally sold historical artifacts that were unearthed during excavations for the Marmaray underwater rail project that connects Europe and Asia.
Turkey PM threatens to expel some foreign ambassadors
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that he might expel some foreign ambassadors who are involved in “provocative actions” amid rising tension in the country over a graft probe.
Erdogan made the remarks on Saturday in a televised speech in the city of Samsun, only days after a graft scandal hit some governmental officials and prominent businessmen close to him.
“Some ambassadors are engaged in provocative actions…. Do your job. We don’t have to keep you in our country,” he said.
According to reports, Erdogan was referring to the US ambassador to Ankara, Francis Ricciardone, who had reportedly told some EU ambassadors that Washington “asked Halkbank to cut its links with Iran. They did not listen to us. You are watching the collapse of an empire.”
Ricciardone said in his Twitter account that the media reports were “baseless allegation.”
Suleyman Aslan, the chief executive of state-owned Halkbank, was among scores of people arrested in a bribery inquiry.
Early on Saturday, Aslan was charged with corruption, fraud, trafficking in gold and embezzlement, local media said.
In Istanbul, Baris Guler, son of Interior Minister Muammer Guler, and Kaan Caglayan, son of Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, were also charged with acting as intermediaries to give and receive bribes.
Media reports said prosecutors had begun handing out corruption indictments to some of the 89 suspects arrested three days earlier, with the first eight formally arrested and placed in pre-trial detention on Friday. The arrested suspects may face possible bribery charges.
The son of Environment Minister Erdogan Bayraktar, who was among those detained by the police, was released on Friday after hours of judicial interrogation.
On Thursday, Istanbul Police Chief Huseyin Capkin was removed from his post only a day after dozens of senior police officers, including his deputies, in Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, were sacked.
The Turkish premier has dubbed the inquiry a “dirty operation,” saying those behind the probe were seeking to form a “state within a state.”
The operation is being widely interpreted as a challenge to the authority of Erdogan, who boasts of being pro-business and has pledged to root out corruption.
Turkish political observers also speculate that the police raids could have been driven by simmering tensions between the Erdogan government and influential US-based Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, ahead of elections next year.
Source: pressTV
British intelligence anxious to catch Snowden in Russia – investigative journalist
By: Voice of Russia,
“Britain’s spy-infested embassy in Moscow has taken the lead among the ‘FIVE EYES’ signals intelligence allies to locate the whereabouts of National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden in Russia,” says Wayne Madsen, an investigative journalist and former US Naval Officer, in his article titled “Desperately seeking Snowden”, speculates about numerous and multifaceted attempts of the British intelligence to locate and catch Edward Snowden in Russia and outlines reasons for its outstanding diligence in doing the job.
Madsen points out that the British government seems to be the most interested in renditioning Snowden than its other partners of the FIVE EYES, which, besides, the US, includes Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
According to Madsen, the British are willing to catch Snowden mostly out of urge to get back at him for “the alleged damage his revelations caused British electronic surveillance operations around the world” rather than “desire to ingratiate Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GHCQ) and Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) with their American counterparts, the NSA and CIA, respectively”.
Madsen supports that statement quoting British Prime Minister David Cameron who said he considered Snowden as well any likes of him “terrorists”.
Most visible Britain’s reaction to Snowden’s revelations was during testimony before the British Parliament when Britain’s top three intelligence chiefs, that is, John Sawers of MI-6; Andrew Parker of MI-5; and Iain Lobben of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the British counterpart of NSA, accused Snowden and his partners of “aiding Al Qaeda”. Former British Defense Secretary Liam Fox even took the liberty to request Britain’s Director of Public Prosecutions to look into the Guardian’s editor Alan Rusbridger, its former reporter Glenn Greenwald, and Greenwald’s partner David Miranda to determine if they violated anti-terrorism laws.
Madsen reminds that “Miranda was detained by British authorities on August 18 as he was transiting through Heathrow airport en route from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro” for his connection to the Snowden case, while in July, Bolivian President Evo Morales, traveling home from Russia, was searched in Vienna by the Spanish ambassador enjoying full support of the British embassy in Moscow, as they suspected that the President might be secretly bringing Snowden over to Bolivia with him.
Since Snowden was granted temporary political asylum in Russiam his location has been kept secret. In October, he had a meeting with four other American national whistleblowers — Ray McGovern, formerly of the CIA; Colleen Rowley, formerly with the FBI; former NSA official Tom Drake, and former Justice Department prosecutor Jesselyn Radack at an undisclosed location in Moscow. Snowden was presented with the Sam Adams Award for Integrity and Intelligence.
After the aforementioned meeting British MI-6 case officers assigned to the British embassy in Moscow, according to Madsen, “began using NSA and GCHQ “contact chaining” intelligence gathered from surveillance of Facebook and other social networking systems to identify Snowden’s location. The contact chaining began with the Facebook, Twitter, as well as phone call metadata, information derived from the four American visitors to Moscow.”
According to Madsen, Snowden’s disclosure of documents on contact chaining revealed that “SID Management Directive (SMD) 424 (SIGINT Development – Communications Metadata Analysis), signed on November 29, 2010, permits NSA and its partners, including GCHQ, to permit contact chaining, and other analysis, from and through any selector, irrespective of nationality or location, in order to follow or discover valid foreign intelligence targets”.
The new directive also allows GCHQ and NSA employ contact chaining intelligence dealing with foreign targets, “U.S. Communicants” included, if there is a “foreign intelligence (FI) justification”, which in Snowden’s case was recognized and approved.
Contact chaining via social networks and email contact lists is used for developing “large-scale graph analysis on very large sets of communications metadata without having to check foreignness of every node or address in the graph”. The latter when talking about Snowden would be all people he has contacted and all people who have contacted him back.
The roof of Russia’s British Eembassy in Moscow is bristled up with antennas and other surveillance equipment, with a dome which serves as a cover for a satellite communications antenna. Also, according to Madsen, a “rooftop green radome, housing a satellite dish, keeps the embassy’s MI-6 agents, working under diplomatic as security officers, maintenance men, and British Council employees, as well as GCHQ signals intelligence operators, in constant contact with MI-5 headquarters at Vauxhall Station in London; GCHQ in Cheltenham, England; NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland, the CIA in Langley, Virginia, and the massive NSA surveillance station in Menwith Hill, England.”
The embassy officers have specifically been trained to keep an eye on Snowden, his Russian support personnel, and foreign visitors, like the four American whistleblowers and German Green Party legislator Hans-Christian Strobele.
Locating Snowden is top priority for British intelligence, regardless of this fact shading the impropved relations between Britain and Russia. Madsen adds that “the operation is known to involve the number one MI-6 officer at the embassy, whose diplomatic cover is ‘director of regional security'”.
Madsen argues that the process of kidnapping Snowden, referred to as “rendition,” is quite problematic for the secret services, however, there is hope the Russian security servives will be distracted by the up coming Winter Olympics which are to start February 7, 2014 in Sochi. The Britisj services might wait for a lapse in security chain of the Russian forces and use it to snatch the whistleblower.
Madsen concludes his article quoting the first NSA whistleblower, Perry Fellwock, who used the pseudonym Winslow Peck after revealing NSA surveillance operations in 1972 Fellwock recently came into light to make comments on Snowden case. “Fellwock told Gawker.com that the NSA and its FIVE EYES partners are independent of their governments, ‘an entity unto itself’. This entity will stop at nothing to capture Edward Snowden regardless of international law and diplomatic protocols,” – Madsen quoted.
Source: Voice of Russia, strategic-culture.org
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_12_05/British-intelligence-agents-in-Russia-instructed-to-find-Snowden-Canadian-NGO-3126/